Score calculation

[nad_spirit8966]

Hello. I wanted to understand how the final score is calculated based on the rough scores. In terms of percentages, the conversions don't make sence. For instance, I got 28 correct answers out of 40 for a verbal reasonong section which means 70% of questions I answered correctly. So a final score that is 70% of the 15 top score would be around 10. But I got a 7. Could you explain the conversion for me please? Thank you very much.

[mcat_premed3832]

Medical schools are not interested in the % right/wrong on the MCAT. They are only interested in your performance compared to other students. A "scaled" score is just a way to do 2 things: (1) it puts you on a bell curve so that your score actually indicates your performance related to others and (2) by reducing the "scale" to a score out of 15, it reduces the chance that just 1 error changes your score in a meaningful way (so the AAMC won't feel guilty for having a bad question or 2).

Most students taking them MCAT intuitively know English quite well but may not be very fast in the Physical Sciences. The result, on a large scale, is that students get a bigger % correct in VR compared to PS. What that means to you: for you to do as well in VR as PS, you must get a greater % correct in VR because your competition is greater.

I hope that helps to answer your question . . .

[nad_spirit8966]

Thank you. That does help.

[c_madero1862]

That actually doesn't make sense to me.

On the GS-4 test, I got a 33/40, which I think should put me at a 12. However, I got a 9.

Does this mean I am only getting the easy questions right? If what you are saying about there being 1 or 2 bad questions not affecting my scaled score, then I don't think there should be such a big difference between a 9 and a 12 for 7 questions. I am confused.

[mcat_premed3832]

This is an important discussion because it will prevent unpleasant surprises.

To avoid any discomfort about the information in this discussion, start by going to the source: login to your account at www.e-mcat.com (for those that don't have one, you should get your account, it's free and includes one real past MCAT).

You will be able to see a detailed listing of the Raw Score and how it converts to a Scaled Score based on the more than 50 000 students who took that test (applying the Bell Curve).

Here is what you will notice: (a) statistically, in general, one mistake will not affect a score; (b) statistically, in general, 2 mistakes has an affect at the high end and low end of the scale of 15 (consider the shape of the Bell Curve).

One cannot conclude specifically which student got mostly easy or difficult questions correct (there is no scale for this). The scale is a blunt instrument and, unfortunately, the curve is quite tightly centered in Verbal Reasoning between 6 and 10. Small numbers of errors at the beginning greatly affects the scale.

In the end, this is all about getting ready for the real MCAT. So I think it's very important to review the thread above in which students compare their GS scores with their real MCAT score (and we hope you'll come back and add your voice!). You will see that on average, students score a little higher on the real MCAT.

PS the difference in the 2 examples above is huge: a student makes more mistakes going from a 9 to a 7 than going from a 13 down to a 9.